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Sunday, August 12, 2012

A Welcome Weekend

I enjoy my weekends. Even between the domestic duties, the driving from one sport I'm not into to another sport I'm not into (but enjoy watching the skills my kids have thankfully inherited from their father), I'm pretty much able to do whatever I want, as long as I come for dinner.

The Chicken and the Nugget are mostly independent now and if I want to go and have a four hour lunch, I can (The Moneymaker spends most Saturdays with the Nugget either playing soccer or watching soccer or just kicking a ball around the park anyway).

So along with Rachel from The Kids Are All Right and Lisa from Mum Of Adult Kids, we spent Saturday afternoon lunching and nattering about our lives and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was at an old haunt of mine, The Welcome Hotel in Balmain which lives up to its name in spades. I used to spend the odd Saturday afternoon and more often a Friday night in this pub with my old friend and so it was strange to be there without her there. She really needs to come up from Melbourne for another weekend soon but being a single Mum who works full time, it can be hard to co-ordinate.

The Welcome has an Irish feel and a comfortable atmosphere. It hasn't gone all chrome and glass like a few pubs in the Inner West so I feel more at home there. And the restaurant is up there with the best around. Even though I've had the Beef & Guiness Pie before, it still came as a shock when it came to the table. It took a minute or two before Lisa's burger and Rachel's Middle Eastern Vegetable Pie with Caramelised Onions and Spinach (entree size) appeared but suddenly the conversation stopped as we stared at this huuuge thing!

My pie looked like it had a baby!

I hadn't ordered a side salad or veggies thank God but I knew I would never get through it (thanks Rachel for the help!). **This wasn't sponsored by or a paid review of The Welcome Hotel, I just wanted to let you know how much I like it.**

Even though the food (and the wine of course) was really good, finding out about each other was even better. We found a lot in common (who would've thought that Lisa and I went to the same high school!) and could relate to each other so well. Lisa has grown up boys and has been through all the normal trials and tribulations of teenage years and Rachel and I are just starting that bumpy ride.

It was really great to bounce things off each other and reminded me of my old mother's group in Enmore (which has been going for 13 years). It wasn't like the original mother's group I had joined where the biggest topic of conversation was how much our baby had grown or walked or talked or poo'ed. Today was an exchange of experiences not only from being a mother but also from being a teenage daughter (which we all were some time ago).

I've always believed that my daughter should be aware that I've been through what she is going through and have survived. I may not always give her the details (some things don't need to be told!), but she knows I didn't live in a bubble and I knew a thing or two. This also keeps her on her toes - she knows she won't get away with much! Also watching Puberty Blues, the original movie and the series next week, may give her an idea of what it was like.

This isn't the place for me to talk about her, she has a digital footprint already. Also she knows where I live.

This is probably the reason a lot of parent bloggers don't write about their teenage children online. I would love to type the conversation we just had with our daughter a minute ago, but if she found out she would be devo'd (see, I know the lingo! - *gawd I'm old*). Maybe being anonymous would be a good idea.....

Anyhoo! Saturday closed with a quiet night at home (even though I would have loved to stay at The Welcome and had a few vino's while listening to the cover band which started just as we left).

Sunday was spent at the Five Dock Ferragosto which meant crowds, cold winds and hot coffee. I was a little disappointed as I only went there because I got the dates wrong for the Vintage Fair at Marrickville. It was last weekend (doh!).

Nugget learnt a financial lesson at the festival when he spent his savings ($15) on the first weapon show bag he saw then regretted it when he later saw a much bigger and better toy bow and arrow for $12.50. It was time to take Grumpy home.